THANK YOU – that is the message to the community from the parents of the Purbeck Isle skipper.

Colin and Grace McFarlane said they had been touched by the support of the community following the fishing tragedy in which their son David died.

And they praised the work of all those involved in searching for David, 35, and crewmen Robert Prowse, 20, and Jack Craig, 22.

They paid tribute to the Dorset Police liaison team and to everyone who laid flowers on Weymouth harbourside, left messages or helped the Purbeck Isle Memorial Fund.

The Purbeck Isle went fishing on May 17 and did not return. During a three-day search involving coastguards, the Portland helicopter, two Royal Navy vessels, a US research boat, Weymouth, Lyme Regis and Exmouth lifeboats and the National Coastwatch Institution at Portland Bill, David’s body was found and the wreck of the boat was discovered. But Mr Prowse and Mr Craig remain missing.

Hundreds showed their respects at David’s funeral.

The family said that the tribute from the fishermen at David’s funeral was fantastic. A flotilla carried the family and friends into Weymouth Bay and let off flares and lanterns.

Mrs McFarlane said they placed roses in the water in tribute to him.

She said: “The tribute they gave to David in the harbour was a good ending to a sad day. It was absolutely amazing.”

Mr McFarlane said: “I didn’t realise they were going to do all that and I’m so glad they did.”

He added that he had joined a crowd of people at Portland Bill for a ‘touching’ ceremony where they released lanterns before motorcycling from the Bill to Weymouth Harbour.

In the wake of the tragedy the Purbeck Isle Memorial Fund was set up, spearheaded by Weymouth and Portland Licensed Fishermen’s and Boatmen’s Association, which aims to help the families and the children of the lost men.

Mr McFarlane said: “It has touched us so deeply.

“We feel it’s so fantastic that it’s happening.

“It’s overwhelming.”

David’s parents said that although they were being lifted by the kindness and support of the community that they had ‘quite a lot’ more pain to face.

He said: “We feel we have still not really been hit by it. Emotionally we still have quite a lot of pain to go through still.

“It’s definitely helped everyone gathering round us.”

They said they would remember their son as a passionate person who adored his family, his partner Vicky and his girls Bethany, 16, Caitlin, 13, and Hope, four, and loved life and loved the sea.

Mrs McFarlane said: “The love and support is helping us.”

The family is hoping to put a stone bench in Chesil Cove in memory of David, as it was one of his favourite places, and go out to the site of the Purbeck Isle to lay flowers in the water.

• Donations can be made at the Bridport and Lyme Regis News office in East Street, Bridport